Divided last.



PATENTED APR. 14, i908.

W. C. PORTER.

DIVIDED LAST.

APPLIUATION FILED PEB. a, 1902.

f Z Y W A. A y@ fw Z 2, of my improved last.

yUNITED str rirnslrnnr OFFICE.

WALTER C. PORTER, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO KRENTLER-ARNOLD HINGE LAST COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORA- TION OF MICHIGAN.

Drvrnn'n LAST.

Specification of Letters Patent..

Patented April 14, 190s.

Application 'led February 3, 1902. Serial No. 92,386.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Beit known that I, WALTER C. PORTER, of Worcester, in the countyl of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Divided Last, of which the follow ing 4is a speciiicatic'm, reference being had to the 'accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows my improved last in elevation, the heel sectionin-raised position, Fig. 2 is a central, sectional elevation, and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view, on line 3- 3 of Fig.

My invention relates particularly to that class of lasts known as divided lasts and it has for its object to provide a last which, as

' soon as it is bent, shortens in length so as to lallow the removal of the last from the shoe or the insertion oi the last into the shoe with the utmost ease and even to permit this op-V eration when the shoe is laced or otherwise closed. f

A further object is to provide a lastwhich shall automatically lock .its two parts in their operative and inoperative positions and prrevent too ready movement of the parts om one position, to the other, said locking means not, however,l preventing the read starting :of the two parte relative to eac t eir extreme positions; the locking means being so disposed vas not to put the parts under strain when in their operative or ino erative positions, but acting to resist their iiee movement past a point intermediate such extreme ositions, andl a further object is to pibvi 'e a last which shall be composed of the-minimum number 'of parts, having no` springs, bolts, struts,

staples, or other parts designed to keep the two portions of the last in their operative positions.

Another'objectis to provide a last which shall be 'absolutely automatic in its operation I as well'as of eXtreme simplicity.

In the drawings, A indicated .the :fore part or toepart of the last, while aI indicates an.

angular' extension atA theA rear end of the fore part. B indicates the heel section. Fast to the heel section "andprojecting'forward from the. heel section, is a late b. I have shown this plate in the 'drawings as inserted for part oiits length into a slot in the heel section of a width approximately equal to the thickness of the p atev and 4secured immovably therein by two dowel pins. This I consider the best, because the strongest and iirmest, construction. I

In the rear end of the fore part is formed a slot af, which divides the extension a, into two parts. Obviously this slot might be' .duplicated if desired'l and two or more plates ,C which passes across the slot and through an aperture in the forward end of theplate b. The Width of theslot c is approximately the same as the thickness of the plate b, so that no side slatting or 'movement takes place, the sides of the slot supporting the si es of the link b and serving to guide it in its upward and downward hereafter explained. The ivot pin C is movements as will be designedly placed as 10W] in the ast as it is possible to do, and must be on a line with, and is preferably placed below 80 the point of connection between the' plate b and the heel section B in order to accomfore part in the way I have just described and shown in t e drawings, that is -to say,

when the heel part is pivoted upon the fore 'part by the pivot pin near the bottoni of the ast and preferably below the oint of connectionl between the plate b an the heel section B, the heel partwill obviouslyl swing upon that pivot as a center, and it will be found that upon bending the last, -that is to say, when the heel lpart 1s swung upward on its pivot the total" erpth 'of the lastwill be immediately shortene from the ver first instant that the u ward movemento the heel -part begins, an the Alower the position -in which the pivot is placed with respect to .the`

bottom of the last the more marked will this shortening effect be.v In lasts which I fam now making and which embody this feature,v

I iind that the shortening effect, is equal'to. two sizes at least. VThis feature 'of my inven'- tion is an important matter, since it enables l, l v l l thelast to be removed from a shoe even 'f when laced, if desired, without strain or liabilit to injure the lining of the shoe and so mar ed is the shortening effect that m improved last can be replaced in a lace Oxord shde Without the use of a 'shoe-horn.

It will be seen that the knuckles formed by the two parts of the extension a are shallow in vertical depth and project to the rear so as to be over-hung by the forepart for a considerable horizontal distance. This, taken togretherwith the fact that the plate b is short om itspivot c to vthe abutting line of cleavage or the secant lsurface which it ,crosses vtri-connect with the heel part, said pivot c being located approximately in a vertical plane below the lon vertical wall of the forepart above the knuc e, constitutes my invention, and is of great importance and value because byi reason o f this construction the last must s hinge 4takjes the downward leveling strains (as distinguished from the nearly vertical line of cut when the last is extended in K rentler` No. 764,894), no shearing 'strain can come directly on the hinge itself,` and the rear heel line can be much less rounded than -in 'such aconstruction as that of Tyler No.

601,021 or of ArnoldNo. 607,978,

`The last isalso exceedin 1y simple, easy to manufacture, and the wi e extent of overhangingand contacting surface when the last is'in its lengthened osition, makes ,twisting If a circle'be struck from the pivot pin as a center, to touch but not cross the line of the front face of the heel part B, it will be seen that a,protuberance or angular point or portion :c of the extension a is outside the circle abovementioned, and it will be obvious that the point upon the face of the rear part B Vwhich is, touched by the circle above mentioned, since Ithat point swings about the pivot C as a center, will necessarily tendto move'in the line of the circle, andit will be also obvious that since the protuberance x upon the rear-face of the extension c projects outside the circle the protuberance ac will be in the path of that part of the face of the heel part B which was touched by the circle above mentioned, since this portion of the heel part B Will necessarily follow thc line of the circle While the protuberancc projects beyond the circle. lt will be observed that the protuberance :n projects Within the path of the vnatural inherent elasticity of all the orten at onceandrapidlyfupon 'being bent, the wood as well as theface of thejlieel plut as above mentioned only to a sli Idegree, and it is' this rotuberance whic operates as a locking 'evice, for as the heel section swings upward in a circular path upon the ivotC as a center the protuberance .wil frictionally resist the upward movement of the heel section and tend to force the heel section away from the forepart section,straining the connecting parts and causing the material of which the last is made to yield slightly wherever the strain falls. As soon as theengaging surface of the heel section B passes thelprotuberance the arts will operate to draw the heel section an the fore-part section4 together to their normal 80 closen'ess, andthe heel section will thus be held in its velevated Wah'riaiion i0 the fore-pari A a is 0b viousl important that the' heel section shoul be stopped in its downward movement when it-reaches its operative position', that is to say, when the bottom 'surfaces of the parts B and A reglstertogether, since it'f is important that lthe' bottom surface of the last shall be continuous, but' it is .obvious 95 that this stopping of the heel art in its downward movement might e accomplishedby any 4ordina stop, as, for example, a in' across the s ot d, at lsome point where 1t would be enga ed by the plate bat 100 the proper moment. he lower face of the' extension a which I have designated by the letter y and which, projecting 1n the path of the heel part B, serves as a stop to limit the downward movement of the heel not therefore a feature of my invention.

The-protuberance :c upon the Irear face of.:

the extension a may be situated at any con-` venient position on'the rearface of extension a, the only re uirement being that 4it 110 shall so project as to Ae slightlyin the path of some point upon the face of the 'heel section B as it moves up or down, and obviously the shape and angles shown in the drawings are not of the essence of my invention though they show convenient and operative shapes 4and angles for carrying my invention into practice, so far as this automatic locking feature is concerned. The rotuberance a: as

shown in the drawings an described in this 121 specification is anintegral portion of the extension a but the effect might be attained by a wooden or metal projection connected to the face of the extension a and projecting into the path of some part of the face of the 125 heel section B, the principle of operation being that a point upon the face of the extension a shall be in the path of a point upon the face osition until, by thev exercise of considera le force, it` is again thrown over the protuberance when again the natural elasticity of the Aparts locks the 85 `heel section B in its operative or lower position.

part `B fis 105 seat/er w of the heel section B and tend to obstruct its upward or downward movement when the two points are passing.

I claim: Y

l. A last, comprising a forepart and a heelpart, separated by a transverse cut extendin diagonally upward and forx Tard for a limited distance from the'bottoin of the last for giving an extended horizontal overlap to the contacting surfaces litting each other tightl)v when the last is extended, and by surfaces diverging from the upper end of said cutand providing a recess below the top of the last when the latter is in extended position, in combination with a central vertical hingeplate rigidly connected to the heel-part and pivotally connected to the forepart niore than half-way from the bottoni of said recess and its pivotal connection being` constructed and arranged with relation t-o the secant surfaces of the adjacent ends of the forepart and hcelpart to permit the heel-part to nieve upwardly and to shorten instantlyv at the beginning of its upward swing, and to separate said overlapping surfaces angularly 'from each other, swinging the upper diverging' surface ef the heelpart forward for closing said recess.

2. A hinged last7 liavingits parts separated by a wide gap formed by an approximately vertical wall at the upper rear end of the forepart and an oblique wall at the upper forward end of the heel-part, said wall of the l I l l I, l

l l l i l l "ely midway to h aving depth, proforepart extentirn the bottoni el' said. forepart Wall and havn E, ,s 'face extendingl in a rearward direction i, its extreme end at the bottoni of the last, the entire contaeting surface therewith of said heelpart extending' forward at all pointsfroiri the point of intersection of said extreme end with the bettoin of the last, for giving a niaxinuun horizontal overlap to said contacting' surfaces7 and a central vertical hinge-plate rigidly nected to the heel-part and pivoted to the forepart low down in said extension more than half way from the top of the latter to the bottoni and in approximately vertical alineinent with said rear vertical wall of the forepart to shorten the last rapidly and irnniediately when the lieelturned Ward upon its pivot, said l -plate and its pivotal connection being constructed and arranged with relation to the secant surf of the adjacent ends of the forepar.` part to permit the heel-part to nieve i and to separate said overlapping si s gularly freni each. other, swirl 1i iper diverging'surfaee el the nee.. wir] .rd roi closing said recess.

WAUFEE Titnesses Gao. Maanen,

i CEAS. lllrL-icinmr.

Lie' 

